I still have several boards, from 80s old school to longboard and modern pool deck. I still play round in the driveway with the kids a little, as they are just learning to stand on boards. But I've been seriously thinking about going to the local park and riding the quarters and pool. I never skated pools, and only a few times even played around a little on halfpipes. I had quarterpipes, even a 6' tall one my dad built for me years ago. But the urge to try the pool is strong. I have plenty of pads, just need a new helmet...and nerve. Also would like to go while the local kids are in school! I bought and sold a few boards/decks back in the late 90s/early 2000s. I'd find them at yardsales, and list them on ebay. It's crazy what some of them go for!

Any recommendations for a "beginner" board for a 6'5", 220lb guy who's never even seen a skateboard in person? Sounds like it might be a fun father/son activity for a 40-something guy and his 5yo boy. Preferably under $100 if it's possible to get something decent in that price range. Not opposed to buying components and building, if that's an option.

Any recommendations for a "beginner" board for a 6'5", 220lb guy who's never even seen a skateboard in person? Sounds like it might be a fun father/son activity for a 40-something guy and his 5yo boy. Preferably under $100 if it's possible to get something decent in that price range. Not opposed to buying components and building, if that's an option.

Thanks for any input...

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Are you talking a long board, or like a street skating deck?

If a street skating deck, I'll be honest. I used to scoff at the kids with their Tony Hawk boards, and "crappy" old World Industries setups....Until a few months ago I stepped on a "cheapo" Tony Hawk complete. The amount of concave & pop that thing had was just incredible. Heck, I was able to pop knee high 360 flips in Nike running shoes. And this is after years of not skating regularly.

In conclusion? I snapped my last custom built board last Thanksgiving. I'm now ordering up a World Industries complete off Amazon for 60$. It looks kinda like the one I got in 1999.

If you're a bit bigger, I'd look at around 8" wide decks. There are also "mini" & "Micro" decks for your son. You can be setup for the both of you for easily under 100$ on Amazon.

Drove by the local park today, around noon and there were only two older guys there skating. They said there's never anyone there during school hours. Yay! Stopped by the local shop and bought a new Pro-Tec helmet....probably gonna go skate tomorrow AM. Hopefully no emergency room visits to report on later!

The bowl, looked huge and intimidating. I jokingly told the other two guys, that I'd probably have to call the fire department to get my big ass out of it! One of them told me that he skated in it one day, and that climbing out was very hard for him. He said "I'll have to get good enough to skate myself out before I do that again!". The shallowest part is 8' deep!

Sounds good. My shoe size is 20E, so I'm guessing wider is better for me. The boy is more normally proportioned...so far.

Thanks for the info!

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20E in American shoe sizing? Holy cow, I thought my 13s were big! Do not buy a little 8" wide deck then! Get a bigger board. Unless you plan on doing ollie kickflips, etc, you don't need a skinny board. Get a big longboard, downhill board, cruiser, etc. When I ride a small modern deck, like the one my kids have, I feel like I'm standing on a popsicle stick. I have about 5" of shoe hanging off!

You can still get 9-11" wide decks, and big wide trucks. The new Powell pool decks are nice.

I always seemed to have a goofy setup compared to anyone I skated with. I always had to have 7.625" wide board, with just slightly tighter than "sloppy loose" trucks. This caused me a lot of pain if I didn't land perfect from larger drops, the wheels would hang up and I'd get hucked forward.

Anyone ever have an aluminum skateboard? I had (well, might still be in my parents basement) a deck made by 2-4 Skateboards or something like that. The thing was a tank....and may God have mercy on your shins if you ever messed up a flip trick.

I have to run risers on all of my boards. Wheel bite (when the wheel rubs the board, and sends you flying from the sudden stop) sucks! And I'm not skinny littl kid. We were having this conversation at the skateshop today, a few of us "old timers". One guy had just gone back to riding directional boards, with risers, 55mm wheels etc. He said he used to ride popsicle sticks but got tired of it, and wasn't into doing flip tricks, etc. I've never been into the current trend of street skating. I don't do rails, ledges, flip tricks, etc. I prefer bigger boards.

I went to the park today, to skate it for the 1st time. I am VERY rusty, and will need a lot of "practice". The bowl is too deep and tight for me to get much out of it right now. I'm not at all comfortable dropping in, so I climbed in and just played around in it for a little while.

This doesn't really do it justice, the lens makes it look a lot wider than it really is. Only the shallowest bowl has any flatbottom, the rest is piped.

I always sucked at riding 1/2 pipe & the bowls. So much commitment when you start getting up over the coping. I did like skating the mini 1/2 pipes though. Lip tricks were fun to mess around on.

I used to be hard pressed to only run lucky risers, since they were a bit softer than some of the others out there. I think I stopped using them cause they ended up giving the board a wobbly feeling under my feet. Or I probably had some goofy reason that made no sense at all.

Yeah, riding bowls, pools or ramps was always an ambition of mine, but when I was a kid and skating a lot, we had nothing like that. There wasn't a skatepark within 100 miles of where I lived. The ones that were 30-60 miles away closed in the early 80s. We only had the ramps we could build, which were quarters, etc.

I'd love to be able to drop in and carve around a bowl, maybe grind the coping a little. But it's gonna take time, and nerve!

The park I was at today, I've never seen anyone ride the bowl. 99% of the kids who skate there totally avoid it.

when I moved here from scotland Vans had a skatepark with a killer "deep" pool not to far, scare the crap out of me having never skating anything like it. Just grinding the shallow end was a happy place for me I hit tile in the deep a few times and for a street guy that feel so weird and cool.
Then I got to watch cab and others rip it up, amazing stuff. they had a contest where a lot of guys were pulling totally rad stuff.
one of my fav images, love smith grinds

I'm sure this wasn't directed at me, but just to make sure, that photo of the bowl I posted, is NOT me. Just a pic I found online showing the shape of the bowl. I couldn't touch that coping with my hand, if I ran and jumped up the transition! That end is deep! My 4yo daughter was there cheering me on the whole time I was down in there skating the lower 2' of it! She's just learning to stand on a board and roll, but wanted to try the skatepark out! I kept telling her she needs to practice first....but she kept asking to roll down the hills! Soon.

For my 21st birthday, my mom put together a neat shadowbox for me. Last unused deck I have from Mankind Skateboards. If anyone is from the saylorsburg, PA area, and know of a Jervis Levance, let me know. I lost contact with him awhile back and would like to give him a call sometime.

Finally got back over to the park today. Played around on the quarters and roll-ins. Had a few "step offs" and now my ankles are sore! Apparently I'm too old and fat to land on and run across concrete while moving faster than I can run!

This is the area I've been playing around on:

It's not a great park by any stretch of the imagination, but it's the ONLY free public park in Raleigh...a city of nearly half a million!